The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a Complaint and Notice of Hearing to WGME for engaging in unfair labor practices as a result of a charge by IBEW Local 1837. The charge by the Union was filed on March 19, 2007, after Union Steward Jack Amrock was threatened, intimidated and coerced by WGME management while fulfilling his responsibilities as steward by investigating a possible contract violation. WGME is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. of Hunt Valley, Maryland.
As stated in the NLRB complaint document, the charge stems from the previous September when Brother... Read More
The crowd was addressed by both Congressman Mike Michaud and Congressman Tom Allen, both of whom also spent time chatting with event attendees.
Music was provided by Shawn Mercer in the earlier part of the evening, and the Toughcatswound out the event leading up to the fireworks. Between music acts, "EFCA" man took the stage in a raucous skit featuring a reporter scaring up stories about injustice at Circuit City, the unworkability of the Verizon Sale, and the misdeeds of the senators from Maine in the vote on the Employee Free Choice Act.
Proceeds from the event benefit the... Read More
The Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) have voted to join IBEW Local 1837. 100% of the 35 eligible employees (who are also known as "Writers") participated by mail ballot in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. Representatives of the Union and the Company were on hand as the votes were tallied at the NLRB office in Boston on the morning of July 20, 2007.
The Union's election victory came at the end of a long and difficult campaign. After IBEW filed the petition to represent the "Writers" for the purpose of... Read More
Demonstrator CMP Portland Members of "The 47" at CMP still working to achieve their first contract took to the streets again today, this time in three locations. Allies from the other IBEW bargaining unit at CMP turned out to show their support, as did members of several other unions including the Machinists from Bath Iron Works, IBEW Local 567, IBEW 2327 workers from Verizon, the Maine AFL-CIO, the Newspaper Guild, and the Maine AFL-CIO. Spirited demonstrators walked the line between 6 and 7 before heading to work in Augusta, Portland, and Lewiston. The Negotiating Committee meets again... Read More
The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board has determined that a system-wide unit would be appropriate for Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as “Writers”) at Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), the state’s largest electrical utility. IBEW Local 1837 had petitioned for such a unit, only to have it challenged by an attorney for PSNH who sought to have the 33 employees divided into 13 or 14 separate bargaining units
Monday and Tuesday, June 18 & 19, local workers and labor and community leaders across Maine and New Hampshire gathered outside the offices of our U.S. Senators to call on them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act -- legislation that would make it more difficult for employers to thwart workers’ efforts to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. Members of the New Hampshire and Maine AFL-CIOs and Central Labor Councils, community activists and workers will gather for rallies in Manchester, New Hampshire and Augusta, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland in Maine.
“The... Read More
Union members at CMP wore red last Tuesday in support of the "CMP 47", the bargaining unit that was certified in January of 2006 and is still working to negotiate their first contract. Approximately 600 employees of CMP already belong to the union and have worked under a collective bargaining agreement with the Company for decades. In 2005 a group of fourteen Dispatchers joined the union and negotiated a supplement to the existing agreement. When the new group of 47, many of them professional employees, voted in 2006 to join the union, the Company insisted that they intended to negotiate an... Read More
Gov. Bill Richardson and IBEW Asst. Business Manager Tom Ryan discuss PSNH Writers.
 
 
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, while campaigning in New Hampshire for the Democratic Presidential nomination, expressed concern to PSNH representatives about their anti-union tactics against IBEW 1837's drive to organize "Writers" at the company. Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists (also known as "Writers") have recently been subjected to mandatory anti-union meetings at company facilities. These mandatory meetings could soon be outlawed under HB 254, now being considered by... Read More
Field Technicians and Field Technician Specialists at Public Service Company of New Hampshire are awaiting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board to determine if they can have a statewide bargaining unit as IBEW Local 1837 has proposed. The NLRB held a hearing in Boston on May 15 and 16 to determine the scope of the proposed bargaining unit for the "Writers" at PSNH.
At the hearing, an attorney for PSNH argued that the employees cited in the Representation Petition should be split into more than a dozen different bargaining units across the state. IBEW feels strongly that the... Read More
Following months of investigations and weeks preparing for trial, Unfair Labor Practice charges filed against Central Maine Power Company (CMP) by IBEW Local 1837 were settled just days before the trial was set to begin.
Immediately after the Union was certified to represent them, the Company announced that members of a unit of 47 employees would not be eligible for merit increases, for the all-employee incentive bonus, and certain other programs. Believing the changes to be illegal unilateral changes to mandatory subjects of bargaining, IBEW had attempted to convince CMP to withdraw the... Read More